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January 22, 2002
REVIEW: Square pegs, round holes
THE three decades of the ‘20s to the ‘40s of the last century were of exceptional importance in the subcontinent’s contemporary history. Abdullah Malik’s autobiography, Purani mahfilein yaad aarahi hein, wades through this period. At the very outset the reader is warned not to take the volume as a book of history. But the period covered and the fact that Abdullah Malik has been all his life and still continues to be at 81 a prominent political and social activist and a columnist invest the book with special significance.
Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are still living under the dark shadows of the events of the three decades the author describes in his life story. While going through the book the reader gets introduced to a host of prominent personalities of the time or those who later came to occupy positions of importance in politics and literature.
Abdullah Malik was in the habit from a very early age of writing a diary and making notes, and keeping newspaper clippings and documents. He was fortunate not to have suffered the ravages of the mass migration of 1947 and thus his valuable treasure was preserved. In writing this biography his diaries, notes and clippings have become an important source material for him.
Malik was born in 1920 in a Kakkezai family having sympathy with politico-religious parties of those days. The patriarch of the family, Malik’s grandfather, professed the Wahabi faith and had empathy with the Ahrar Party which was then vocal in championing anti-imperialist causes. The locality where Malik was born — Haveli Mian Khan and the environs of Koochae Chabukswaran — had historical and socio-political importance in Lahore which the author tries to recall in some details by narrating the events associated with and leading to the origin of the haveli and the Koocha and also other landmarks of the area.
Abdullah’s childhood was a lonely one. He was subject to strict discipline and he was not allowed the freedom of outdoor play. He therefore sought comfort in books, magazines and newspapers. His exposure in early youth in the company of his grandfather to the political and religious movements and events in Punjab created in him a zeal and passion for politics. This passion was reinforced by his short stay of two years in the Government College, Lahore, where he was admitted under the quota system.
In Government College he met students from two extremes. There were those who aspired for entry into the bureaucracy and the others who were fired with anti-imperialist zeal. But both belonged to affluent families. Given his association with both, he acquired a dual personality — in appearance he imitated the former but in spirit was closer to the latter. However his family’s economic condition could not sustain the appearance and the lifestyle that he wanted to imitate, creating in him a sense of deprivation which drove him to radicalism.
Having been already influenced by the Ahrar’s populist politics and Jawaharlal Nehru’s speeches, Abdullah Malik came under the influence of socialist thought. The Islamia College, which was his next academic sojourn, stabilized his personality, softening up the dualism of the Government College. Here he was among colleagues from his own class and spiritually at ease.
References to important events and movements at relevant places provide the author an occasion to explain their historical background to enlighten the reader on their significance. These developments mainly relate to the Ahrar, Khaksars, Shahidganj mosque, Progressive Writers Association and the formation of its branch in Punjab, the second world war, the Lahore resolution, Sikandar Hayat’s sudden death and Khizar Hayat’s selection as chief minister, the legalization of the Communist Party, CP workers’ joining of the Muslim League, etc.
Some of these events deserve special mention. The reader gets first-hand knowledge about the Khaksar tragedy of March 19, 1940 from Khadim Husain Batalvi, the incharge of the Tibbi police station who was the key officer in the operation in which 19 Khaksars were killed.
Another quotation of considerable significance is the extract from the report of G. Ahmad, a DSP in the Special Police who was deputed to interrogate P.C. Joshi, secretary of the Communist Party, under detention, to find out the real motive of the party in changing its policy towards the war and how far it would go in helping the government of India’s war efforts. Obviously the extract must have been provided by G. Ahmad. The authenticity of the extracts would have been enhanced if the source had been identified.
There are a number of interesting episodes which the author recalls. There was the first meeting of Sajjad Zahir, Mahmud Muzzafar and Dr Rashid Jahan with Mian Iftikaruddin in Lahore when the trio visited Mian Sahib’s house in connection with the formation of the Punjab branch of the Progressive Writers Association. Malik captures the atmosphere vividly.
The background of Sikandar Hayat’s sudden death and the back-door manoeuvring for his successor leading to the selection of Khizar Hayat Tiwana is described graphically and the reader learns that politics in Punjab operated in those days no differently from how it does today. It is in fact the norm of feudal society all over.
The background of the Communist Party’s support to the Muslim League’s demand for Pakistan also makes interesting reading.
Abdullah Malik and other Communists who joined the Muslim League remained misfits in the new organization because the political cultures of the feudal-dominated Muslim League and the proletarian-oriented Communist Party were poles apart. The transposition of communists in the League rank could never be accepted in the body politics of the party, even though Malik and his colleagues worked hard in the 1946 election. In this context it seems strange how Abdullah Malik fails to mention in his biography his visit to the Aligarh Muslim University before his entry into the League.
Abdullah Malik is brutally frank and outspoken and he remains true to himself in his biography as well. He describes his experiences with some of his admirers who fell for his attractive looks. He also reproduces several of their letters which would have embarrassed the writers if they had been alive today. Careful editing could have improved the book by deleting the repetitions and misprint of names.
Purani mahfilein yaad aarahi hein (autobiography)
By Abdullah Malik
Takhleeqat, Ali Plaza, 3 Mazang Road, Lahore Tel: 042-7238014
Email: takhleeqat@yahoo.com
416pp. Rs250
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